Red Tide Rising: The Hungarian Aluminum Plant Toxic Sludge Flood

1||When the walls of the sludge reservoir at the Ajkai Timfoldgyar aluminum plant in the town of Ajka, Hungary gave way on October 5, 2010, the nearby villages of Ajka, Devecser, Kolontar and four others)were inundated with a red toxic mud that killed and injured more than 120 people.||BENEDIKOVIC/SME/ISIFA/SIPA/Newscom&&

2|| ||ANGER/ZEPPELIN/SIPA/Newscom&&

3|| ||DUDAS/SIPA/Newscom&&

4||Tunde Erdelyi saved her cat after the flooding ended.||imago stock/Newscom&&

5|| ||ANGER/ZEPPELIN/SIPA/Newscom&&

6||An woman cries outside her flooded home in the town of Devecser. ||EUROPRESS/ IMAGO/SIPA/Newscom&&

7||A woman saves her dog after it was caught in the sludge.||ANGER/ZEPPELIN/SIPA/Newscom&&

8||Workers in the village of Kolontar take a short break.||Philippe de Poulpiquet/PHOTOPQR/LE PARISIEN/Newscom&&

9||Firefighters used hoses, often to little effect, to try to clean the sludge.||BENEDIKOVIC/SME/ISIFA/SIPA/Newscom&&

10||A cat that escaped the sludge flood in Kolontar.||n07/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

11||Residents of Kolontar escaped the sludge flood as best they could.||DUDAS/SIPA/Newscom&&

12||Some residents, like this man in Ajka, cleaned up the corrosive, toxic sludge in only the most minimal of protective gear.||ANGER/ZEPPELIN/SIPA/Newscom&&

13||Some workers were able to utilize clothing and masks to protect them from the toxic waste, like these people in Ajka.||ANGER/ZEPPELIN/SIPA/Newscom&&

14||The devastation in Kolontar.||n07/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

15||Some animals, like this cat in Kolontar, were unable to escape the flood of toxic sludge.||EUROPRESS/IMAGO/SIPA/Newscom&&

16|| ||DUDAS/SIPA/Newscom&&

17|| ||DUDAS/SIPA/Newscom&&

18||The village of Ajka, where the reservoir of sludge gave way.||ANGER/ZEPPELIN/SIPA/Newscom&&

19|| ||n07/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

20||A backhoe was required to remove a horse's body from the sludge that killed it in Kolontar.||n07/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

21|| ||Philippe de Poulpiquet/PHOTOPQR/LE PARISIEN/Newscom&&

22|| ||Philippe de Poulpiquet/PHOTOPQR/LE PARISIEN/Newscom&&

23|| ||Philippe de Poulpiquet/PHOTOPQR/LE PARISIEN/Newscom&&

24|| ||Philippe de Poulpiquet/PHOTOPQR/LE PARISIEN/Newscom&&

25|| ||Tibor Somogy/ISIFA/SIPA/Newscom&&

26|| |||Tibor Somogy/ISIFA/SIPA/Newscom&&

27||Police patrol the streets of Kolontar in part of prevent looting.||Philippe de Poulpiquet/PHOTOPQR/LE PARISIEN/Newscom&&